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Tanjug Daily News Review, 96-06-13

Tanjug Directory - Previous Article - Next Article

From: Tanjug, Yugoslavia, via Serbian Unity Congress <http://www.suc.org/>

Jun 13, 1996
NEWS AGENCY - TANJUG
DAILY NEWS REVIEW


CONTENTS

  • [01] YUGOSLAV PREMIER RESHUFFLES GOVERNMENT
  • [02] GERMAN MINISTER WANTS SMALLER BOSNIA PEACE FORCE AS OF SEPTEMBER
  • [03] TWO BOSNIAN MUSLIMS HANDED OVER TO WAR CRIMES TRIBUNAL
  • [04] LE FIGARO: MOSTAR CRISES INSURMOUNTABLE FOR EUROPE
  • [05] TALKS BETWEEN YUGOSLAVIA AND IMF CONDCUTED IN CONSTRUCTIVE ATMOSPHERE
  • [06] MILOSEVIC, BILDT DISCUSS DAYTON PEACE ACCORDS IMPLEMENTATION
  • [07] E.U. AND DAYTON PROCESS
  • [08] HIGH REPRESENTATIVE FOR BOSNIA MEETS WITH R.S. PARLIAMENT SPEAKER
  • [09] BRITISH COMMENTATORS: EXTENSION OF MILITARY MISSION IN BOSNIA LIKELY
  • [10] BILDT OPPOSED TO POSTPONEMENT OF BOSNIAN ELECTIONS
  • [11] YUGOSLAV, ZIMBABWEAN PRESIDENTS GIVE HIGH MARKS TO WEDNESDAY TALK
  • [12] U.S. OFFERS GUARANTEES TO EASTERN SLAVONIA, BARANIA, WEST SREM
  • [13] CROATIAN DEMILITARIZATION GOES AS PLANNED -- U.N. SAYS
  • [14] MONTENEGRIN PREMIER MEETS WITH U.S. PRESIDENT
  • [15] AUTONOMY SHOULD GUARANTEE SAFETY TO SERBS IN SREM-BARANJA REGION
  • [16] YUGOSLAV, IMF DELEGATIONS OPEN TALKS IN GENEVA
  • [17] BELGRADE DAILY: IZETBEGOVIC VISITED PRISON CAMPS FOR SERBS
  • [18] MOSTAR ELECTIONS TO DETERMINE BOSNIA'S FUTURE
  • [19] AKASHI SAYS SERBS ARE NOT GUILTY OF MASSACRE AT SARAJEVO MARKETPLACE
  • [20] OUTER WALL OF SANCTIONS MAJOR OBSTACLE TO YUGOSLAVIA'S DEVELOPMENT
  • [21] FOUR GLAMOC SERBS ARRESTED BY CROATS, IPTF SPOKESMAN
  • [22] GERMAN COMMENTATORS CRITICIZE IZETBEGOVIC
  • [23] SARAJEVO GOVERNMENT WANTS TWO BILLION MARKS FROM GERMANY
  • [24] SERIOUS INTERNAL DISPUTE THREATENS IFOR
  • [25] ELECTIONS MOST IMPORTANT STEP TOWARDS PEACE IN BOSNIA
  • [26] HAGUE TRIBUNAL PROSECUTOR DROPS CHARGES AGAINST BOSNIAN SERB
  • [27] OPPOSITION CANDIDATES IN MOSTAR INTIMIDATED

  • [01] YUGOSLAV PREMIER RESHUFFLES GOVERNMENT

    belgrade, june 12 (tanjug) - the yugoslav prime minister announced the appointment of five new ministers at a government session in belgrade on wednesday.

    a goverment statement said that prime minister kontic had appointed minister without portfolio tomica raicevic, 53, as finance minister, and vladimir krivokapic, 56, professor at the police academy, as justice minister.

    rade filipovic, 56, director of the yugoslav electric power company, is the new economy minister, and agricultural expert tihomir vrebalov, 72, is minister of agriculture.

    radonja minic, 50, so far deputy minister of development, science and environmental protection, has been appointed minister without portfolio.

    government composition after the wednesday changes: prime minister: radoje kontic deputy premiers: jovan zebic uros klikovac nikola sainovic ministers: foreign affairs: milan milutinovic defence: pavle bulatovic internal affairs: vukasin jokanovic finance: tomica raicevic justice: vladimir krivokapic economy: rade filipovic agriculture: tihomir vrebalov transport and communications: zoran vujovic trade: djordje siradovic labour, health and welfare: miroslav ivanisevic development, science and the environment: janko radulovic ministers without portfolio: zoran bingulac

    vuk ognjanovic margit savovic radonja minic.

    [02] GERMAN MINISTER WANTS SMALLER BOSNIA PEACE FORCE AS OF SEPTEMBER

    bonn, june 12 (tanjug) - german defence minister volker ruehe said in bonn on wednesday that the size of the nato-led peace force (ifor) in bosnia should be slashed after september elections.

    ruehe repeated the assurance that ifor would be ending its mission in december as planned, once again refuting speculations about an extension.

    he said that the multinational force would have to remain on full alert until dec. 19.

    as for the german troops serving with ifor, ruehe said that they would have to stay on in bosnia until january 1997, 'for technical reasons.'

    he said that ifor needed to be reduced because it had carried out all its military duties stemming from the peace accord in the first five months of its mission.

    nato has various options of using intimidation to prevent the rekindling of war in former yugoslavia, ruehe said.

    [03] TWO BOSNIAN MUSLIMS HANDED OVER TO WAR CRIMES TRIBUNAL

    belgrade, june 13 (tanjug) - the muslim sarajevo government on thursday handed over two muslims, hazim delic and esad landza, to the hague-based criminal tribunal for the former yugoslavia, news agencies reported.

    heavily guarded, delic and landzo were transferred from the prison to sarajevo airport to be taken to the hague.

    during the bosnian war, delic was deputy commander of and landzo guard in the bosnian muslim government prison in the southern bosnian town of celebici. bosnian serbs, who were held in celebici, accused delic and landzo of repeated crimes of murder, torture and rape.

    during the war, bosnian muslim leader alija izetbegovic repeatedly visited the camp in which serbs were tortured and killed. the proof of the visit was communicated to the tribunal.

    [04] LE FIGARO: MOSTAR CRISES INSURMOUNTABLE FOR EUROPE

    paris, june 13 (tanjug)- europe has failed to open a pass in the wall which divides mostar into muslim and croat sections and the upcoming local elections threaten definitively to divide the city along ethnic lines, paris' le figaro said thursday.

    le figaro said bosnian muslim parties threatened to boycott the city elections, scheduled for june 30.

    mostar remains divided -- each side has its own currency, administration and police, the daily said.

    it presented the view that mostar croats were better organized thanks to several years of experience in the smuggling of arms, fuel and other products.

    [05] TALKS BETWEEN YUGOSLAVIA AND IMF CONDCUTED IN CONSTRUCTIVE ATMOSPHERE

    geneva, june 13 (tanjug) - yugoslavia and the international monetary fund expressed readiness to find solutions to their mutual interest at the first four round of talks held in geneva on thursday morning.

    the delegations at the talks, conducted in yugoslavia's permanent mission in geneva, are headed by yugoslav economist oskar kovac and imf head for southeastern europe emanuel zervudakis.

    the morning round of talks was mainly related to the regulation of legal aspects important for future relations between yugoslavia and the imf.

    in the afternoon talks are expected to broach on yugoslavia's financial obligations towards the imf, ways of their regulation and other questions, such as the exchange of informationand other forms of cooperation.

    this round of expert talks is expected to end on friday.

    [06] MILOSEVIC, BILDT DISCUSS DAYTON PEACE ACCORDS IMPLEMENTATION

    belgrade, june 12 (tanjug) - serbian president slobodan milosevic discussed wednesday the dayton peace accords implementation with the international community's high representative for bosnia carl bildt.

    a statement from milosevic's cabinet said that special stress was laid on the implementation of the civilian and political aspects of the peace plan.

    milosevic and bildt focused on the preparation of upcoming elections in bosnia and on securing the necessary conditions for normal life and for economic recovery, the statement said.

    in this context, the importance was stressed of international factors synchronizing their measures and activities for securing full compliance with the commitments stemming from the peace accords.

    the talk was attended by yugoslav foreign minister milan milutinovic, the statement said.

    [07] E.U. AND DAYTON PROCESS

    by vladimir holovka

    brussels, june 12 (tanjug)- the florence meeting, which will review the six-month implementation of the dayton peace accords for bosnia, is seen at the e.u. headquarters as a good opportunity for pointing up new paths to lasting peace in the former yugoslavia.

    the e.u. foreign ministers agreed in luxembourg monday that the union make the development of its ties with the countries of the former yugoslavia conditional on the latter's mutual cooperation and the development of good-neighbourhood relations among them.

    the ministers said cooperation and good-neighbourhood relations among the countries of the former yugoslavia would be the chief incentive to a further consolidation of peace in the balkans as a whole.

    e.u. sources say that the union is ready to continue playing a role in the implementation of the dayton accords and the consolidation of peace only provided all countries of the former yugoslavia play a constructive role.

    according to the e.u. sources, it is necessary that the countries of the former yugoslavia normalize mutual relations, establish economic cooperation using the inherited infrastructures, fully open their markets and fit into the european democratic processes.

    the e.u. has assessed that everything unfolds as planned in the implementation of the dayton military provisions but that things are somewhat slow with the implementation of the civilian accords.

    all international factors view the implementation of the reconstruction programme for bosnia-herzegovina as a key element of the peace process in all of the former yugoslavia.

    the pace of the reconstruction process is slower than planned. of the 1.8 billion dollars pledged at two international conferences of donors in brussels, confirmations have been received for 1.4 billion, which is considered sufficient.

    however, the european commission is the only one which has contributed its installment of 340 million ecus, while the remainder of the money is yet to come.

    [08] HIGH REPRESENTATIVE FOR BOSNIA MEETS WITH R.S. PARLIAMENT SPEAKER

    pale, june 12 (tanjug) - high representative for bosnia carl bildt met wednesday with speaker of the (bosnian serb) republika srpska (r.s.) parliament, momcilo krajisnik.

    after the meeting, bildt said he had discussed with krajisnik a large number of issues relating to the implementation of the dayton peace accords for bosnia-herzegovina, but did not specify the issues.

    krajisnik said they had exchanged information ahead of a conference in florence on thursday on results of the six-month implementation of the peace agreement.

    krajisnik said he hoped that the oucome of the confernce, which will be attended also by a r.s. delegation, would be successful.

    he said he had called on the international community to protect serbs in sarajevo and prevent vandalism in serb cemeteries in the area.

    the serb districts in sarajevo were placed under control of the moslem-croat federation under the dayton peace accords. tens of thousands of serbs have fled sarajevo since.

    [09] BRITISH COMMENTATORS: EXTENSION OF MILITARY MISSION IN BOSNIA LIKELY

    london, june 12 (tanjug)- the reconstruction of bosnia is not unfolding as planned, so that it will most likely be necessary to extend the international military mission after december 1996, british commentators said wednesday.

    commentators said the concurrent views held by the british parliament's defense committee, the international iplementation force command in sarajevo and the u.s. administration indicated that the international community had agreed on an acceptable formula.

    according to british analyses, the continued military presence is necessary to let know the bosnia sides that the international community is determined to prevent a renewed war and to open prospects for lasting peace.

    according to the british parliamentary committee, the new military force would be far smaller and would number 20,000 troops at the most, with britain and france providing the bulk but the u.s. also participating.

    public discussions on the issue are viewed in british diplomatic circles as a message to the florence conference participants that there is no alternative to peace in bosnia-herzegovina and that the dayton peace accords must be fully and consistently implemented.

    official sources in london say that elections in bosnia-herzegovina are the most important step and must be held despite the existing problems.

    the organization for security and cooperation in europe, for its part, maintains that not all conditions have been created and that elections need to be put off.

    note of the signals sent should be made also by the participants in the oslo talks on arms control in the former yugoslavia.

    the refusal of the muslim-controlled government of bosnia-herzegovina to sign the proposed arms control agreement is seen in london as being possibly dictated by war ambitions and an actual rejection of arms control.

    [10] BILDT OPPOSED TO POSTPONEMENT OF BOSNIAN ELECTIONS

    washington, june 12 (tanjug) - high representative of the international community for civilian affairs in bosnia-herzegovina carl bidt on wednesday appealed on all factors in charge of the planned elections in bosnia not to put them off.

    bildt said in an article published by the washington post daily that those who claimed that the conditions for holding elections in bosnia were not perfect were right but that they were not in the least right when they urged postponement because it might jeopardize the entire daytong agreement and further strengthen the process of divisions along ethnic lines.

    the election of new authorities in bosnia's two entities (the republika srpska and the muslim-croat federation) and bosnia-herzegovina as a whole will strengthen peace and initiate the process of building a common state, which is one of the main objectives of the dayton peace accords, bildt said.

    sources in the u.s. administration also said on wednesday that the calling of elections in bosnia was imperative and that it was the only way leading to a common multi-ethnic state.

    the elections will make possible that the implementation of peace documents start in areas of civilian life where it would be impossible without elections, said william montgomery, the u.s. president's foreign policy adviser for the balkans.

    sources in washington on wednesday expressed confidence that the organization for security and cooperation in europe, authorized to call the elections, will do so by the end of the week.

    [11] YUGOSLAV, ZIMBABWEAN PRESIDENTS GIVE HIGH MARKS TO WEDNESDAY TALK

    belgrade, june 12 (tanjug) - yugoslav president zoran lilic and visiting zimbabwean president robert gabriel mugabe gave high marks late on wednesday to their belgrade talk held earlier in the day.

    meeting the press after the three-hour talk, lilic said that zimbabwe was the only country to have supported the federal republic of yugoslavia in its hour of need and the only one to have voted in the u.n. security council against imposing sanctions on yugoslavia.

    speaking about yugoslavia's place in the united nations, lilic said that yugoslavia had never been excluded from the world organisation, and that no additional requirements were necessary for its return.

    president mugabe, who arrived in belgrade in the morning, told reporters in his turn that he fully supported this position and urged yugoslavia's return to all international organisations.

    he said that zimbabwe was against bosnia-herzegovina becoming a member of the non-aligned movement until the matter of yugoslavia's status in the movement had been settled.

    [12] U.S. OFFERS GUARANTEES TO EASTERN SLAVONIA, BARANIA, WEST SREM

    erdut, june 12 (tanjug) - the united states is ready to give special guarantees to the people in the region of eastern slavonia, barania and west srem who might wish to stay on in the region, according to the region's president.

    region's president goran hadzic was speaking after meeting on wednesday with a delegation of the u.s. state department.

    hadzic said that his talks with officials of the u.s. foreign and defence ministries and the white house had convinced him that they did not share the croatian side's view that the process must end speedily and at all costs.

    this serb-populated region is the only remaining part of the republic of serb krajina that croatia has not occupied.

    representatives of the region's serbs and the zagreb regime agreed in november 1995 to place the region under international administration for at least a year and maybe two.

    hadzic said that he had drawn the u.s. delegation's attention to the fact that croatia's amnesty and territorial organisation legislations clashed directly with some parts of the november 1995 agreement, specifically its article 12.

    article 12 of the agreement gives the local serbs the right to organise municipal councils in eastern slavonia, barania and west srem.

    on behalf of the u.s. delegation, roger crasy, representative of u.n. administrator jacques klein, expressed satisfaction that the november 1995 agreement and the u.n. security council's resolution 1,037 were being implemented.

    [13] CROATIAN DEMILITARIZATION GOES AS PLANNED -- U.N. SAYS

    vukovar, june 12 (tanjug) - a u.n. transitional authority (untaes) spokesman said wednesday that the demilitarization of the region of eastern slavonia, barania and west srem was going fine and would be completed by june 21, as planned.

    spokesman philip arnold told reporters in the serb-populated region's town of vukovar that serb heavy weapons had already been displaced and that small arms were now being turned in.

    arnold added that all barracks and other military facilities would be placed under untaes control in the next few days.

    he said that next on the agenda was forming a joint police force, launching a pilot-program for the return of refugees and settling the status of the region's population and the problem of the region's currency.

    on the subject of croatia's amnesty legislation, arnold said that some questions needed to be clarified and the legislation, which he said was too generalised, made to conform more to international laws.

    he said that talks between the region's u.n. administrator jacques klein and croatian foreign minister mate granic and president franjo tudjman in zagreb on wednesday and thursday would focus on amending the legislation.

    asked by croatian reporters if there was a chance that untaes might oust the current serb authorities once it had finished demilitarization and turned to civilian affairs, arnold said that untaes had no direct impact on the election of local authorities.

    he praised the cooperation of the serb side, especially in the past two weeks.

    the region, which was the scene of bitter fighting between croatian secessionists and local serbs in the fall of 1991, was placed under u.n. transitional administration by an agreement signed by the rival factions in november 1995.

    the implementation of the agreement will be supervised by the 5,000-strong untaes which should administer the region for a maximum two years.

    [14] MONTENEGRIN PREMIER MEETS WITH U.S. PRESIDENT

    podgorica, yugoslavia, june 12 (tanjug) - montenegrin premier milo djukanovic met in los angeles on june 10 with u.s. president bill clinton, the premier's cabinet said late on wednesday.

    according to the statement, djukanovic was paying a working visit to the united states on the initiative of the u.s.-montenegrin chamber of commerce in order to give concrete form to agreements reached during a previous visit.

    djukanovic and clinton exchanged views on the implementation of the peace accord for bosnia-herzregovina and other questions of topical importance to overall stability in the balkan region, the statement added.

    both sides expressed the conviction that early democratic elections in bosnia-herzegovina would consolidate peace and create conditions for a speedier economic and democratic development of the entire region of former yugoslavia.

    the premier of the yugoslav republic of montenegro met also with u.s. commerce secretary mickey cantor and had successful business meetings with executives of u.s. corporations interested in appearing on the montenegrin market, the statement said.

    [15] AUTONOMY SHOULD GUARANTEE SAFETY TO SERBS IN SREM-BARANJA REGION

    belgrade, june 13 (tanjug) - local serb authorities in the srem-baranja region are about to end an autonomy project that will be presented to several european institutions and officials, primarily the e.u. leadership and the german foreign minister who proposed the model, the belgrade daily politika said on thursday.

    the daily said autonomy was the best guarantee that srem-baranja serbs would be safe and equal.

    'the demand for serb autonomy in the srem-baranja region results from a natural survival instinct,' the daily said.

    'this would be the optimum model which would satisfy all principles and preserve the authority of peace mediators,' the daily said and added that europe's leading political centres are beginning to realize that a more efficient protection of serbs is necessary.'

    the daily said that what had been happening in croatia in the past few months showed that croatian president franjo tudjman and croatian authorities were reluctant to give up a settlement of the crisis in which serbs were given very little guarantees.

    the question of guarantees to serbs is the key to overall croatian-serb relations and regional stability depends on it, the daily said.

    politika said that serbia and srem-baranja serbs urged a peaceful settlement of serb-croatian relations, with mutual appreciation.

    the daily said that in an interview to the german weekly der spiegel, serbian president slobodan milosevic urged the opening of a new chapter in relations between belgrade and zagreb, while observing equality as the most important principle.

    during a recent tour of countries that emerged in the territory of the former yugoslavia, e.u. heads jacques santer and lamberto dini said that belgrade was the closest to the european union and that croatia disregarded many universal principles of the union, the daily said.

    serbs in the srem-baranja region cooperate with representatives of the u.n. transitional administration of eastern slavonia and give a full contribution to the restoration of communications with croatia, politika said.

    zagreb and those who would make it observe e.u. principles and human rights of serbs in this part of croatia are to make their move now, the daily said.

    [16] YUGOSLAV, IMF DELEGATIONS OPEN TALKS IN GENEVA

    geneva, june 13 (tanjug) - delegations of yugoslavia and the international monetary fund met at the yugoslav u.n. mission in geneva early thursday to discuss legal modalities of regulating yugoslavia's relations with imf.

    the yugoslav delegation is headed by oskar kovac, an expert on economy. the imf delegation is made up of emanuel zervudakis, head of the imf section for southeastern europe, and tom hagen.

    the two-day talks are aimed at finding an optimum solution to the normalisation of relations.

    [17] BELGRADE DAILY: IZETBEGOVIC VISITED PRISON CAMPS FOR SERBS

    belgrade, june 13 (tanjug) - if justice at the hague tribunal is based on personal responsibility for committed or undeterred crimes, a belgrade daily asks thursday how to assess visits by the bosnian muslim leader to camps where serbs were tortured and killed.

    there were 404 camps for serbs in bosnia during the war, plus private prisons, of which refugees have given testimony.

    the precise figure of the serbs held in these camps and those who had been tortured as not been established yet, said the daily.

    it said the hague tribunal had been persistently avoiding izetbegovic in its search for war crimes suspects.

    like bosnian serb leader radovan karadzic and bosnian serb army general ratko mladic, izetbegovic was the 'brain' of the operations carried out by his armies, para-troops and the mujaheddin forces that are still present in bosnia, despite demands by the u.s. that they leave the country, said the daily.

    it called to memory the fact that the tribunal's president in sarajevo antonio cassese threatened a reimposition of sanctions on the bosnian serbs and belgrade on account of karadzic and mladic, while holding it logical and desirable to have contacts with izetbegovic.

    the daily wondered why the evidence with which cassese had been supplied was being completely ignored, such as izetbegovic's tours of the camps, his associating with bloodthirty torturers and murderers, of which the tribunal has received evidence, said the daily.

    the daily said the tribunal had been given testimonies from eyewitnesses to several of izetbegovic's visits to the camp celebic, when zejnel delalic was on of his bodyguards and when he was received by the camp's commander zdravko mucic.

    the tribunal has issued indictments against these two muslims.

    the daily said izetbegovic had also visited the camp tarcin, of which its former prisoners had testified to the yugoslav war crimes committee.

    izetbegovic also visited 'elite muslim forces' who had thrown serbs dead or alive into the cave kazan. one member, refik colak, boasted in public of receiving a gift from izetbegovic from vienna, a 12.5 mm sniper, said the daily.

    [18] MOSTAR ELECTIONS TO DETERMINE BOSNIA'S FUTURE

    by zdravko milanovic

    sarajevo, june 13 (tanjug) - it is becoming increasingly evident that local elections in mostar on june 30 will determine the path that bosnia-herezgovina will follow in the future.

    politicians, commentators and analysts in sarajevo say that if the current state of affairs in mostar -- its division into the eastern, moslem and the western, croat section -- is confirmed by the elections, that could be the beginning of bosnia's disintegration and its division into three parts expected to follow after september's general elections.

    mayor of the eastern section of mostar safet orucevic has recently tried to allay the fear of mostar being divided on ethnic basis after the elections by proposing that mostar parties set up a coalition.

    consequently, the ruling moslem party of democratic action, the party for bosnia-herzegovina led by haris silajdzic, the liberal party led by rasim kadic, the liberal-bosniak organisation led by muhamed filipovic and the serb civic society led by mirko pejanovic reached agreement to make a list of citizens for a united mostar.

    the situation is rather different in the western section of mostar.

    local reporters say that no one appears to be disturbed by the strong coalition front. the croatian democratic union (hdz), the croatian party of law and another party with a similar name, will be the coalition's main rivals in the elections.

    a local hdz official recently said the elections would show that three moslem and three croat municipalities existed in the town. he said the moslem-croat federation would in the end be made up of croat and moslem municipalities and cantons.

    it is yet to be seen how citizens of mostars will vote. it is clear however that making it impossible for mostar's serbs to vote in belgrade and nevesinje, a town in the south of the (bosnian serb) republika srpska, is to the advantage of those who want the town to remain divided.

    the majority of about 40,000 mostar's serbs have found shelter in belgrade and nevesinje, fleeing the area as moslems and croats tried to create an ethnically pure territory.

    sarajevo commentators have recently reported that serbs could determine the fate of mostar and could create a balance between moslems and croats.

    many however do not agree with this estimate, leaving it to serbs to decide in what way they will vote. european capitals have however taken care of other citizens of mostar by making it possible for them to vote there.

    mostar's serds have thus been placed in an unfavourable position largely thanks to the e.u. administration in the town.

    at this point, mostar is a divided town where fear rules, and human rights and freedoms are frequently violated.

    the organisation of elections in conditions where no one dares to cross from one section of the town into the other is a phenomenon rarely to be witnessed.

    [19] AKASHI SAYS SERBS ARE NOT GUILTY OF MASSACRE AT SARAJEVO MARKETPLACE

    belgrade, june 13 (tanjug) - former head of the u.n. mission for bosnia yasushi akashi has told a german news agency that serbs did not fire the shell that killed 68 civilians at sarajevo's markale market in february 1994, the belgrade daily politika said on wednesday.

    the daily quoted a number of reasons which may have induced akashi, who is presently u.n. undersecretary, to deny that serbs were guilty of the markale massacre after 26 months.

    according to the first, akashi is an honourable man and he could not live with lies. serbs, who favour traditional values, would prefer this explanation, the daily said.

    another reason may be that the u.n. leadership has assessed that bosnian muslims have gone too far and that some balance is needed. however, balance may be the reason for a completely different statement in future.

    yet another reason may be that akashi was trying to restore the credibility of the united nations with the serbs.

    germans have learnt about akashi's statement through the yugoslav media and some russian papers. as far as the west is concerned, the statement does not exist and the reaction of cnn, which profited on the markale story, is not worth mentioning.

    akashi's statement will change nothing in the global conception that serbs are the main culprit, but it can restore the serb trust in the international community, which is not unimportant ahead of bosnia elections.

    another possibility is that akashi, suspecting that he and u.n. secretary-general boutros boutros-ghali are running out of time, is trying to spoil the game of the decision-makers on this issue.

    the daily said that even if this was a private matter, the question whether some other u.n. reports, used as a basis for important decisions, had been changed so as to harm the serbs, was raised from a very official position.

    this will not influence global relations, but it can be very important for the moral condition of the nation.

    the important thing is that akashi's statement put an end to the allegation that serbs killed 68 civilians at markale, politika said.

    [20] OUTER WALL OF SANCTIONS MAJOR OBSTACLE TO YUGOSLAVIA'S DEVELOPMENT

    belgrade, june 13 (tanjug) - yugoslav prime minister radoje kontic and zimbabwe's president robert mugabe said in talks here on thursday that the outer wall of sanctions constituted a major obstacle to yugoslavia's development.

    a government statement released after the talks quoted kontic and mugabe as saying yugoslavia had not yet been allowed to return to world political, financial and trade institutions and organisations, in particular to the united nations and the international monetary fund.

    the statement quoted mugabe as saying this position on the part of the international community was impermissible and there was no justification for it.

    mugabe said his country would back in all international bodies yugoslavia's return to and participation on an equal footing in the international community and would propose the lifting of the sanctions against yugoslavia or back efforts to this end.

    kontic and mugabe focused on issues relating to cooperation between the two countries. they said there were both conditions for promotion of cooperation as well as the two countries' wish to promote it.

    they proposed immediate renewing of contracts on economic and in particular trade cooperation as well as on protecting and spurring investments, and on scientific and technological cooperation.

    kontic and mugabe said it was vital that the activity of the inter-government commission immediately begin because they said there was plenty of room for a successful economic cooperation, mainly through joint investments, joint ventures and transfer of technology.

    [21] FOUR GLAMOC SERBS ARRESTED BY CROATS, IPTF SPOKESMAN

    banja luka, june 13 (tanjug) - alun roberts, international police (iptf) spokesman in banja luka said thursday that he had reliable information that the four serbs who disappeared on june 1 were arrested by croats.

    serbs djordje vuleta, nedeljko jandric, krstan cegaro and mirko cvokic disappered in the area of glamoc, western bosnia, which falls under the muslim-croat federation according to the dayton agreement.

    iptf representatives contacted the local croatian police four times and inspected the prison there gaining 'firm evidence that the above-mentioned serbs had been there from june 1 to 10,' roberts told reporters in banja luka and said the iptf would insist on their release.

    at the same news conference the spokesman of the regional center of the organisation for european security and cooperation (osce) thomas muglierin said that the expelled serbs from croatia would not be allowed to vote at bosnia's september elections.

    un high commissioner for refugees (unhcr) spokesman mons nieberg expressed concern over the slow establishemnt of the freedom of movement between the two entities in bosnia-herzegovina and said that the high commissioner sadako ogato would raise the issue at the florence meeting opening thursday.

    he listed as encouraging the opening of bus lines linking the two entities as well as the reconstruction of 350 houses in mrkonjic grad and sipovo, which belong to the bosnian serbs under dayton and which were extensively damaged last year by the croatian army.

    [22] GERMAN COMMENTATORS CRITICIZE IZETBEGOVIC

    bonn, june 13 (tanjug) - german papers on thursday criticized bosnian muslim leader alija izetbegovic for failing to sign the agreement on arms cuts in former yugoslavia in oslo on wednesday.

    the munich daily sueddeutsche zeitung, explaining that the muslim leader was responsible that the agreed deadlines in the peace process were not being respected, said the sarajevo government had refused to sign the agreement because republika srpska (the bosnian serb entity in bosnia-herzegovina) had been given equal treatment as all other signatories.

    'the no from sarajevo is a sign that izetbegovic is resisting the entire peace plan and the schedule of events for its implementation,' the daily said.

    bonn appealed to izetbegovic to sign the agreement, which had been prepared over many months of talks in vienna, already in the night between tuesday and wednesday.

    kinkel's efforts to persuade izetbegovic were in vain, however, even though he had been speaking on behalf of the entire contact group.

    [23] SARAJEVO GOVERNMENT WANTS TWO BILLION MARKS FROM GERMANY

    bonn, june 13 (tanjug) - the sarajevo muslim government has told germany it would receive the first 100,000 of the over 300,000 bosnian war refugees to be repatriated by the german government only on condition it receives two billion marks.

    an interior ministry spokesman in charge of refugee issues immediately reacted and rejected the demand, which was signed by muslim prime minister hasan muratovic.

    there is no aay that refugees, who have lived at germany's cost for years, now get even more money from germany to resume their life in bosnia, the ministry official said.

    bonn decided earlier that the compulsory organized return of the first group of war refugees from bosnia would start on oct. 1 this year.

    in the past four years, germany spent about 14 billion marks on maintaining refugees, most of them muslims from bosnia.

    [24] SERIOUS INTERNAL DISPUTE THREATENS IFOR

    london, june 13 (tanjug) - a dispute threatens to erupt inside the peace implementation force (ifor) in bosnia between britian and france on the one hand and the united states on the other over suspicion that u.s. officers supply intelligence to the bosnian muslim government, the london daily the guardian said thursday.

    u.s. officers provide the muslim governmnet with information collected by the ifor intelligence mission, which jeopardizes the very function of the peace mission and the agreed unbiased and team work, the paper said and revealed two of the most recent incidents.

    ifor intelligence officers, mostly from britian and france, had prepared a list of ten iranian agents as part of preparations for secret actions against foreign islamic fighters, some of whom have remained in bosnia despite the dayton agreement.

    u.s. mediator john kornblum last month handed over the list to the bosnian muslim government requesting action, the guardian said.

    however, no action ensued and the muslim government was left with a classified document on ifor's activities.

    the other example concerns british and french suspicions that some u.s. officers turn a blind eye to muslim terrorist actions, or even provide assistance.

    an eight-member terrorist group was discovered around zvornik in eastern bosnia on may 10 and it was later established that senior u.s. officers in tuzla (northeastern bosnia) had been quite aware of its activities, the paper said.

    after skirmishes with bosnian serb army troops, seven members of the group sought shelter in a nearby u.s. artillery unit, pretending to be a group of refugees from srebrenica.

    their act, however, lacked in persuasiveness because they were quite well-fed, well-dressed and equipped with arms in very good shape, so that the u.s. troops at once handed them over to the authorities of the republika srpska, the serb entity in bosnia.

    the action provoked almost a panic among u.s. officers in tuzla who knew about the action.

    the hungarian media reacted at once, and even the renown london daily telegraph quoted its u.s. sources as saying that new refugees from srebrenica had been found and that 'irresponsible ifor' had handed them over to the bosnian serbs, leaving them at their mercy.

    a confidential nato report, quoted by the guardian, said that the incident near zvornik indicated a coordinated action at a high level aimed to cover the action of the muslim army.

    [25] ELECTIONS MOST IMPORTANT STEP TOWARDS PEACE IN BOSNIA

    london, june 13 (tanjug)- international community's high representative for bosnia carl bildt said in an article of his published in the london times thursday that free and democratic elections can be held in bosnia, despite many open problems.

    according to bildt, elections are not enough, if peace is to become a reality, and it is necessary to reconstruct the devastated facilities and economy.

    bildt said all sides in bosnia were resorting to manipulations, and insisted that bosnian serb leader radovan karadzic and general ratko mladic must step down from the public stage.

    the london guardian urged thursday that ifor troops leave the barracks and protect voters during the elections, but said there was little readiness for that within the international implementation force.

    [26] HAGUE TRIBUNAL PROSECUTOR DROPS CHARGES AGAINST BOSNIAN SERB

    belgrade, june 13 (tanjug) - hague international tribunal for war crimes committed in former yugoslavia prosecutor grant niemann has dropped charges against bosnian serb goran lajic, lawyer miroslav vasic of the fila belgrade law firm told tanjug on thursday.

    niemann dropped the charges on wednesday because of a lack of evidence. in july 1995, lajic was charged with alleged crimes committed in the kerater camp near prijedor in northwestern bosnia. he was arrested in nurnberg in march this year and taken to the hague in may.

    the defense proved that lajic was not in the area of prijedor at the time the alleged crimes were committed. the tribunal asked for a series of photographs on account of which nine of 10 summoned witnesses confirmed lajic had not committed the alleged crimes.

    one witness testified he 'probably' saw lajic there, vasic explained.

    after these testimonies, niemann dropped the charges. the decision is to be confirmed by the hague tribunal court on monday.

    [27] OPPOSITION CANDIDATES IN MOSTAR INTIMIDATED

    sarajevo, june 13 (tanjug)- candidates of the opposition bloc in the divided city of mostar started receiving threats and being intimidated in other ways only a few days after the tickets for the city elections on june 30 were published.

    delegate boro bjelobrk confirmeed the above at a session of the constituent assembly of the muslim-croat federation thursday.

    the constituent assembly is discussing possibilities and conditions for elections scheduled to be held in bosnia-herzegovina in mid-september.

    the mostar opposition bloc 'united democrats of bosnia-herzegovina' has said that if the threats and harassment continue, the elections in mostar will be totally irregular.

    the opposition bloc has called on federation authorities and european institutions urgently to take the necessary security measures.

    the opposition bloc's election rival will be a bloc of five parties, headed by the ruling muslim democratic action party (sda) and croatian democratic union (hdz).

    Copyright © Tanjug, Yugoslavia, 1996


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